ALL Promises Caritas Christi Investigation After July 1

Washington, D.C. (24 June 2009) – American Life League executive director Shaun Kenney announced a new campaign to investigate whether young mothers will be referred for abortions by Caritas Christi, the Boston Archdiocese-affiliated health care provider, after its joint venture with CeltiCare goes into effect July 1.

“Caritas Christi and the Archdiocese of Boston have given reassurances that no Catholic hospitals will make abortion referrals,” stated Kenney. “After July 1, we will put that guarantee to the test.”

Organizations such as Live Action Films and other pro-life organizations have successfully exposed unsafe and illegal health care practices at abortion facilities all over the United States. Such practices include covering up child rape, committing abortions on minors without the required parental consent or notification and intentionally altering legal forms in order to commit abortions.

If Archdiocese-affiliated Caritas Christi is indeed making referrals for – or participating in – activities incompatible with its Catholic identity, the financially-strapped health care system could set a dangerous new precedent for Catholic institutions around the country.

“American Life League and its associates will not be satisfied with a policy that provides degrees of separation between the mother and an abortion business,” said Kenney. “Catholics within the Archdiocese of Boston should be told the truth.”

Under Cardinal Sean O’Malley’s leadership, Caritas Christi and the Archdiocese of Boston have been under intense scrutiny due to the abortion scandal that has rocked the Catholic and pro-life communities in Massachusetts and beyond over the past two months.

“Catholic hospitals have a worldwide reputation as places of mercy,” said Kenney. “Abortion is no mercy. Our Catholic hospitals and institutions should be doing everything possible to safeguard our mothers and children from the horrors of abortion, not seeking new ways to turn a blind eye toward an ever-increasing social problem."

“This scandal will not go away quietly so long as mothers and their babies are threatened by abortion through a supposedly Catholic health care system,” stated Kenney. “Either our Catholic hospitals live up to our Catholic identity and protect every human being – born and preborn – or we compromise our principles and turn a blind eye for the sake of state and federal funding. Mothers and their babies deserve much better, and we will do everything we can to ensure this is the case."

“American Life League and millions of pro-lifers continue to call on Cardinal Sean O’Malley to carefully review the agreement and stop Caritas Christi’s closed-door deal with the Massachusetts CeltiCare program,” said Kenney.

The investigation is slated to begin on July 1 and run throughout the remainder of 2009.

American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.